





CO 

.-< C <L 



d <: dec: c^c c 

' CI <r <r c < cs 5^ 

c *^ <r <r <:- c c? . -x^c- 

fiercer ci :c 

r ccc CC CO 

ccc <s:: ' - 
':cc<^ CSC' c. 

'ecc C«~ X 






' , '^^ c cr ' ^ «iB: c re c^ <-<>■ . <«: 
; CC c" ccv cr oex CC c ''^- ' ^i„ 

'" cr<f c^<:-^^ ^ f^ $ 

c.cr o?« c<:c 'ccc c CC. f , 



4^ ccr c <C< d <?:C;' ■''- f- <3CjM C -^ - 
C >: ■ < <" <<: ^ «'~<^<'' - ^ <XZC(. CCC f '■ C c< 
r.cC; <rCtC €g2< :■■< ^CZ_<: ( <Z' (1 CJ ^ CCi. 

r?"r- < <■«?«. c" .<iCi- ' ' ' «c:._ <:• <r <:" c ". <:"'« 
':f. r CC'c C^ ^"C 'c 4^^rc CC <:V( C<W 

-: CC <S3ys<jc <^ crc^<S: 

3 ^< «S3'<OC c cc^CXcs 

_C . re c ^Cc • <r<- <. r,r c: « 

_'■ <cx ^O'-CC t: ef<Cc« 

< ^CC «2^CC C CCOx^ 
• 'CCC ^ccccc c -.-^cc r 

■- CC c, — 

r «. r < C 

• '^ < CC 

1 OL < ox-' ■. <aC c, ■, CC ' 

: c ' CC «Ecc < c<-<c ■ 
c 'c<.-.<it:r 'vcc <^cc c c<^^C 

-7 c" 'r<: <rcr c ccr <c 
: '- • <MC r^ ■ c <:: <j« < cccc 

"" 0. c- CC <^<r «: c-c< <c 
:c CC CC <scr i c/Cccc 



Vcocc *i-^cr ccccc ^^■ 
-r .- CC <«£ «: c CC'-': c 

"T.-'cr" <«Kr-^o c' c-f.r-; fc ' 



<2<C r ccccr 
«ECC < C<-<C 
<^CC. C CC^C 



car: <^' <■ -acsc <c«: < 

<3Cr cC r. «^ <F<c c 



c<rcc cC 






tlCCjClCfC< 

«c ore co^' 



^crcc^r^^ 
rccccc cc^ 
.c.rcCC.c>.C^ 

«^cccC C^ 
- «ict c^ ' ■ O 



^c^cc'cc --«: 
jv,c<: c^ c 

' — .rC <-*-" ^ 






^ #LIBMRY OF CONGRESS. # 

^ # # 

^ * ^x.^ <1±X' I 

I f UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 



CC <r ' CC ««k: cccc 

CC CC' CC <-<^- ccc 
<C CT'^ ^C '^ eCC 
f c c cXr f C ^^<3IKL C:C c 

f c: CC_ c <- - ««L ccc r 

r«t <JCc 
c«i8C <r.:<' 
<-«; <vc c 



ccC<r^ 



C'<CCC 

exec CC 



fC'tft. c CC"" 



c:ci.c c cC^s'Cc C 

rcc'^ ccroc o 

<tcC OtCcC'c cc c 

.<s:c ccrc ( Cc^C'< 

XCCi CC cCC^C CC c< 
:<e': CC <<ac c <:'<: - 

<ECccr c CC 
:«c cccC'-r CC 

:c.^..CCCi:: CC CC 



ce^ c cc: 
<r'fC' c '<?:' < 

c:<?J c ' 

c CC CT < 
=ce c c: 

r«c_S S ^*^"- ^ 



^C *-C2l'' 



"^ *c C V < (. t 

CCC s \ \y 



crcc: 



c: «i: 

C <<: 



^c: 



VVc^ 



ccc< CC C5;7 <<- CC 
xtc^ crc CC ->- <: < 

CC< ' CC CvT" c c c 

cc.c CC rcv c c< 

CC CC C^ < ■( CC 

c«: c<.v. re <!<<' vc CC. 

c«ccc.c'cccc cr cc 

c«:-cc. x.<: ccc CC CC 

c«:c<^ C4: ccc 'CC cr 

o- . CC cc<: ' c < c< 
"c; <rC <-'cC f<- c CC 
cT. CC c'cC'<"<^ C^ 
?< .C CCC':CC Cc 
'7! .cr c<c:<cr CC- 
? cC CQC'^rC CCWc. 
( (C CCC'cCC CC-' ■ 

:i. vc ccecc c ccc ^ f^ 

;cc ccc:cCccL.<«.- 

C.-VC- ccc ccc C ^ 

J < c CC cC c C; ^ 
:c < cCcc c ci iC^ 
>c cc: CC cc <. cL ccs 
. <■ <c ec < c < c c< 
... <:: CC << crc ^oc 

c* > «: cc<; CC c I c< 

^c CCCC CC ccj cc 

Vc cC C<S CC CC CC 



C CL.'-.^C^l-Cj 



:cc<r c ' "'^ 

CsC T c CCL' 



c< oc: 



C CO<L 






C Cf C*SIC 



cxcc 






3;c<<:cx: a c:«; -' 
":^cc dec cc <rcc. ^ 

-fvtc- iccrc cc <:2l< ' 

^ C a: C c < Crt 



<<c<:_c <: <rc ■ c_c 
ri«r c c cc c:; 



^_/CX :CC3CtcCcr\ 
^, (: c^r c dC' cc cc c 

^-'<^_ c<ri-sccc(r^^^ 

C s.C<L CXXKCCC c <^ 



« ■ c vT^r «i:c<: c c cc 

r <c c c cc 

t'-c(^.^Clcrccc CC 

_ c< ^"m^. ^i<<c^._c «r - C' 

<< c < m£ <i.<rc c <r cj 

(■• c<.(«cs: <r<cc c c <z< 

c. cc^p: csccc c c: O' 

cc cx^cj: cTcccc <: c:< 



«C cj.cc 

<r; c cr 

c: c .cc. 



Cxi. «; 






Cl< 


<i: 


CI'- 


c< 


d ' 


C€L 


<X' 


«Z 


<5 


< «: 


d'^ 


<r 


C(' 


c cc; 


c< 


<: «: 


c< 


rcc 


<< 


(. 'C 


<■< 


' <c 


c?- 


f ^c 


<c.- , 


cC 



C CaC 

c cc<c 

c <C« 



- Ci ccc o__ .^ , 

- <?•■■ T^ <r< <:e'c^ . 

^/' "*^^ cc c.^ < 
^>' \^^ ^<^'^^<^ 

CC V c c<.c CC ccaccc 

cc < cc cc cc c^r^c^ 



«j^-ccrc « 

riXT'CCc c 

C^^Ci^CCC c 

<^ '9£LiX<:C c 
<' <sc: ^ cr c -<• 
c <«r^ ccc <? 
C«C:CCC C 
'.«^i"^CC C 



5^'C<: rr 

>^ CC rr 

<^<:^cc cf 

«^S cc «r: 
CO cc crc 

cc: cc dec 
cc c<r «r« 
cc c<i c:<c 
rC c«:ic <c 

CC c<5rcc 



«.. cic ccfc«:. cc''<«c«::^ 'i. r'^:^'^- 

"<■< > <r« c«c«c cer- ".<:<: <1. ^ '■« <^ jgTc. -:^ 

K < c c ^ccciet: Cf <- • ■ <ac <:. < ^:< <" ^ cc r? 

' <■: crc . ^<fc<c ccc-i«ac;<: .^ '••"■ - .-<^^" 

cc'Cc <(cr«- cc<-...^irt5tr<: cv j^. -■ 
e cc «cc8r ccr '-•<'< «r7^- CC.^ <3^. r i 

cc '-rccc CC . c(^^c::ccc <r c -- < 

KX' «.(€' CC''CCC€^CI.<^'C C^<"'^' <1< 

aac"' ■■'^c cc^ 'cc^n^c.:'':^ ccc/. r 
oaEz. ■ (.«?■ cc ' • <■< 4Btr cr ■ c-' ^ cc ^c c "'' 

dCr *<^C CC'CCc^HC^Cj.^''!. CiC'CC -c 
«3K_" vstc cCc c cc -- - ^^ ^^ 

.<Sd -t<s., cccCCc 

c«:r >^c cc-occc 
cct; *€ cdccxr< 

r*;: -v<4. -ccr etc 
r^'.w;*- cCC'-«ji- 

^T'^-v;; ccic 'dc^KTC' ' c<c«rc c C 
^<^ cfe ^^P^ ' ^^«:i^ <C 

oc •<■■• .cc c oc S^ic . . cc ' 
«SC'C< cc^c! o<_^^c: <3r 



r.c.\. cc^cc"-' 

c?'-'- c?Lc«fe:.c 
::■ -' ^ ' cfC^co..' ^ 
r^. ^- c:<:"'C^- ■: 
-"■■." c<::.cc^ 

C^'<,u CC.'C C A C 

C «' CC'CC c.^ 

c-.' cc: «:,< c c 
c •■'- cc: ccc < c 
c?" ' ccc«rc c c 
c . cc ^^..^ < c 

C' ^ . cc ' 



:< «'-c tie- ' <: 
_ ' <i'' c CT v<C 

r c'c cccct 
I-.-. <-^ Cc7:cc 
'/!,^«c r:cccc ^ 

'■^- ^>C CCct^C ^ 

'C ^:.-c. CT--crC 

T' ^:, ^jC- eC 

\ «-c cic ccc 



c:c <^c 

cr.c 'Crcc 



-B^^e^i. 



- «sac *> <r<:: c '- ■ 

«sr'C CC" c < 

fi::crcicrc-"<j 






zxr cs 

ccc oT-'CC 
cc^CT/ c^; 



__c;c(: cc.«r. 

1C CCC:'^ _- 
^'d CICC.: CC„ ' 
.-ir^ CCC (C ' 



,C C ^C 

c c «i:c 



CCTCC CC^^^ 

^c: cc f^ ' 
'C cc 

: cc icccc: « 

«:: c c 'd «:c c< 
C c cc -icicicc (C 

c c cc: .-«:icccc? 

c c c:. «ci<^s^'3 



: <1 ^ccc 
CCC 

--' caa 
'C c «jc ■ c- cL^c-crc ' 

.cc^:^:^^-:^cc-c, 

re c CC c:.^.c< 5.cr c -. 
cc CCfC c C«^CKC,C ■ r 

^ ccc C^ 'XCCCcC . 






x:> c vcccc cC: 

dc cc<3ccxr 

•'-<C_c<<cc dC' 

<05:ccc<3C^ 

:<r:c ccc«3cr - 



"c\_ 

-CCSsfC 



:<:::« 



c c c cc 
C c c cc 
c c: c cr 
CCC c 
cjC c <r 
ccc c 
c^cc c^ 

^C CC CSL 
Ic CC CS. . 
ace r c cc 
szc cc cc 
ace cc cc 
:c cc cc 

:,c..of C -CC 

c c c cc 



^caCT dec c<. -__ 
^'dcr c<; ^^ 

-<^^"c:c< "-^^j&^ 

^c^ o; ^cr 
.ciT Of cc €r..cc 

^KIO « «CjC 

.^ c^" " dxi 

^^C^.C..C d 



^ \-vc c.ccc<_ 
r ccc. ccc c:^ 
r ccc cccc. '^CCL 
^ :cc ' <-c< c^ 
^^^L ccC _C<ic cr^ 

?# ase..'a:c^ 



COI C CCtc.'Cv- <ScfCC^ 
dcr" re <.ccc. cc .<^?c^^ 



-.4CC:: c 
f«3C c. 



^. CIC 

■c cc 
c crc 

ccc:- 



.t .ccc c^cdm. 

cc ccc: ccci'C^ 

c. ^CCC ^%^~ 

cC -CCC. c.cd::icc 

C ^CCC:<^-^""^ 

V ccc C: C;'<C 

-<c .'-ccc ccc.-*!: . 
<C .tcxid CdC> . 

^ .v-C-C-C c: <l,cr 
<d"^:..C:<JC C c:.cr ' 

^- .^fdc«;, vc.c 

;dc~' "-dci*^. .;<. c 
jC^^rC<iC'-<C'.. 
d~- fccc:, '--c/c;;: 



.,ccv:jC_^^'^ 
. :>cl::<c:>: 

•^€SC<0 
s:c<3C 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/addressdelivered01fran 



4Jf 



ADDRE88 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



NEW- YORE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



ANNIVERSARY, 



ON THE EIGHTH OF SEPTEMBER, 1839. 



■«- •.■«<.- 

BY JOHN w/fRANCXS, MCD. 

u 

MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY ; MEMBER OF THE LTCECM OF NATURAl H13T0RT, 

NEW YORK ; HONORARY MEMBER OF THE WERNERIAN NATURAL 

HISTORY SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, &C. 



^ PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY. 

PRINTED BY E. CONRAD, 
1830. 



n 






^ 



^ 



New-York, 30th Sept. 1829. 

SIR, 

At a stated meeting of the New-York Horticultural 
SociXTT., held last evening-, it was unanimously 

" Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented to Dr. John 
W. Francis, for the very able and interesting Address delivered before 
the Society and its friends, on the occasion of their late Anniversary — and 
that he be respectfully requested to furnish a copy of the same for publi- 
cation." 

It affords us great pleasure. Sir, to be the means of conveying to you 
this vote of thanks, and the request expressed in the above Resolution : — 
and we take this opportunity of presenting to you our individual acknow- 
ledgments for the gratification we received on that occasion. 



JOHN P. FALMER, 

ABRAHAM HALSEY, ) Committee. 

OLIVER M. LOWNDS. 



S, } 



To JOHN W. FRANCIS, M. D. 



New-York, Oct. 5, 1829. 
To JOHN P. PALMER, ABRAHAM HALSEY, and OLIVER M. LOWNDS. 

GENTLEMEff, 

I COMPLY with your request for the Publication of the 
Anniversary Discourse, delivered on the 8ih ultimo. I only regret that 
other avocations prevent me from revising an Address hastily got up for 
the occasion. Be pleased to communicate to the Society my acknow- 
ledgments of the too flattering opinion they have expressed of its merits, 
and accept the assurances of my high consideration and respect. 

JOHN W. FRANCIS, 



OFFICERS 



OF THE 

NEW-YOHK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



David Hosack, M. D. LL. D. F. R. S. Patron. 

Jacob Lorillard, President. 

Charles Oakley, i 

Michael Floy, > Vice-Presidents, 

William Prince, ) 

John Groshon, Treasurer. 

Abraham Halsey, Corresponding Secretaiy. 

William R. Cooke, Recording Secretaiy. 

Oliver M. Lownls, Librarian. 

COUNCIIi. 



Wm. NeilsoHy 
N. H. Carter, 
John I. Palmer, 
William Carr, 
Charles Henry Hall, 
Richard Hatfield, 
Alexander Smith, 
Francis Cooper, 
Wm. M. Ireland, M. D. 
Andrew Parmentier, 
Michael Burnham, 
Thomas Kinnersley, 
Nicholas Saltus, 
James N. AVells, 
James K. Hamilton, 
Gilbert Davis, 



Thomas Hogg, 
George Newbold, 
William Neale, 
William Wilson, 
George W. Arnold, 
William Phelan, 
Samuel L. Mitchill, 
Isaac Adriance, 
James McBrair, 
William M. Price, 
George Nixon, 
Samuel Swartwout, 
Charles L. Livingston, 
John AV. Wyman, 
George Harriot, M. D. 
Wm. R. Prince. 



ADDRESS. 



GENTLEMEN, 

MEMBERS OF THE NEW-YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIT, 

In accepting the office of your anniversary orator, I feel that 
I have attempted to comply with your kind wishes, rather than 
consulted my abiUty to fulfil its duties ; and when I consider the 
talent and attainments of those who have hitherto performed 
this task, I can only ask your indulgent criticism on the efforts 
of one who professes but a general acquaintance with the sub- 
jects to which this most useful institution is devoted. 

The cultivation of the soil is the natural occupation of man, 
and almost all ages and countries rank agriculturists as their 
most numerous population : and where nations are so unwise as 
to seek in other countries for the radical means of subsistence, 
they must be content to be subjected to every fluctuation which 
the caprice or ambition of foreign powers may impose ; their 
condition uncertain, their independence a mere name. 

In our own happy country, no folly of our rulers, no mad- 
ness of legislation can, I trust, possibly divert any considerable 
portion of our population from this their great and natural pur- 
suit. Generations must have passed away, before even the ne- 
cessary offices of commerce and manufactures can make any 
serious inroads upon this great basis of our nation's power. Is 
it not then the obvious dictate of good sense and sound wisdom, 
that the energy of freemen should mainly be directed to im- 
prove this mighty interest, and may we not fairly hope that the 
aid of government will be called in to strengthen this right arm 
of her resources'? Let it be Ihe pride then and glory of every 
American, to improve the inheritance transmitted to his keep- 
ing, and let each consider it his duty to add to its value by his 



6 

own efforts : so shall our posterity not blush to own their im- 
mediate sires. 

The formation of societies for the cultivation and promotion 
of natural knowledge, is in a great degree of modern origin; 
and the success which has attended them is indubitable autho- 
rity in their favor. Without referring to those learned institu- 
tions of the old world, the Royal Society of London, and the 
Royal Academy of France, with their respective branches more 
particularly devoted to agriculture and horiiculture, whose labors 
have had so powerful and pervading an effect on those two 
great nations, the proceedings and acts of the Board of Agri- 
culture are felt in the daily operations of the English farmer, 
and the present elevated condition of British Husbandry, is the 
best commentary on the wisdom of its establishment. 

It is universally admitted that the Romans first introduced 
Gardening into Britain, but what may be denominated Modern 
British Gardening, is first recognized in the time of Henry the 
8th. During the period of Charles the 2nd, we find that mo- 
narch employed Le Notre, the greatest gardener of his time, to 
arrange and plant the gardens of Greenwich and St. James. 
These gardens were after the style of Versailles, though less 
extensive and less magnificent. 

Of the illustrious Evelyn, it may be said, that he was more 
than the Atticus of his time. 

Intimately connected with, the politics, the literature, and sci- 
ence of his age, he claims distinction in all. No more striking 
instance can be offered of the moi*al dignity and elevation" of 
sentiment pecuhar to this science, than is exemplified in the 
character of the renowned author of the Sylva, the introducer 
of numerous horticultural improvements into his native land. 
Born to affluence, and educated in all the learning of Ills' day, 
he did not seek in the gaiety of the court, a release from the 
ennui of idleness, but found in the improvement of his mind, 
and in the culture of the soil, that pursuit which gave occupa- 
tion to his energies, and conferred unmeasured and permanent 
advantage on his country. In the troubled scenes of civil com- 
motion, he abstained from mixing in its tumults; adhering faith- 
fully to those principles which coincided with his best judgment, 
he sought only occasions of healing the angry wounds inflicted 
in the contest ; and to subserve the great interests of the stale. 



by watching its fluctuating councils; and, by pacific overtures, 
rendered an efficient benefit to his party ; while those who en- 
tered personally into the conflict, only aggi-avated the spirit of 
opposition, and added to the expenditure of their country's 
blood and treasure. 

" The youth who looks forward to an inheritance which he is 
under no temptation to increase, (says a writer on Evelyn,) will 
do well to bear the example of Evelyn in his mind, as contain- 
ing nothing but what is imitable, and nothing but what is good. 
All persons, indeed, may find in his character something for 
imitation ; but for an accomplished English gentleman, he is the 
perfect model." 

" Neither to solicit public offices nor to shun them, but when 
they are conferred, to execute their duties diligently, conscien- 
tiously and fearlessly ; to have no amusements but such as being 
laudable as well as innocent, are healthful alike for the mind 
and for the body ; and in which, while the passing hour is be- 
guiled, a store of delightful recollection is laid up : to be the 
liberal encourager of literature and the arts ; to seek for true 
and permanent enjoyment by the practice of the household vir- 
tues — the only course by which it can be found : to enlarge the 
sphere of existence backward by means of learning throughout 
all time, and forward by means of faith through all eternity: be- 
hold the fair ideal of human happiness. All this was realized 
in the life of Evelyn."* 

The patriotic feelings of the English, have induced that peo- 
ple to consider Evelyn as one of the most efficient founders of 
their navy. Certain it is, that since the publication of his Sylva, 
a greater degree of attention has been bestowed on the cultiva- 
tion of her forest trees ; and indeed pj^lglish horticultui-e may 
be considered as having received its most effective impulse from 
his writings and example. 

At the same period flourished the poet Cowley, the friend of 
Evelyn, and the enthusiastic admirer of nature. He was edu- 
cated a physician, and thus early taught the secret virtues of 
plants and herbs ; but he preferred the pursuits of Agriculture to 
tlie harrassing occupation of professional life. No English poet 



Quarterly Review, toI. lix. p. 54. 



8 

has celebrated with more kindred feeUngthe claims of a country 
retreat, and none of them have exhibited its purity and intellec- 
tual greatness with more striking effect. In all his writings, he 
constantly reverts to the charms of rural enjoyment ; and his 
elegant prose is as redolent of the beauties of creation, as his 
Odes and Pindarics. In his discourse on Agriculture, he speaks 
of the utility of husbandry to a man's self — its necessity to all 
the rest of the world. This art can live, he remarks, without 
all others, but none without this. In speaking of the antiquity 
of the employment of the husbandman, he thus expresses him- 
self. " The antiquity of his art is certainly not to be contested 
by any other. The thi'ee first men in the world were a garden- 
er, a ploughman and a grazier ; and if any man object that the 
second of these was a murderer, I desire he would consider that 
as soon as he was so, he quitted our profession and turned arti- 
san. We were all born to this art, and taught by nature to 
nourish our bodies by the same earth out of which we were 
made, and to which we must return and pay at last for our sub- 
sistence." 

In his Essay on the Garden, addressed to his friend Evelyn, 
he thus unfolds his thoughts : " I never had any other desire so 
strong and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have 
had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and 
a large garden." 

" God the first garden made, and the first city, Cain. 

Oh blessed shades, O gentle cool retreat 

From all the immoderate heat. 

In which the frantic world does burn and sweat! 

This does the Lion star ambition's rage, 

This avarice, the Dog's star thirst assuage, 

Every where else their fatal power we see ; 

They make and rule man's wretched destinie. 

They neither set nor disappear. 

But tyrannize o'er all the year. 

While we ne'er feel their flame or influence here. 

Nor does lliis happy place alone dispense 

Such Tarious pleasures to the sense ; 

Here health itself doth live. 

That salt of life which docs to all a relish give ; 

It's standing pleasure and intrinsic wealth, 

The body's virtue and the soul's good fortune, health . 



Where does the wisdom and the power diviiie, 
In a more bright and sweet reflection shine ; 
Where do we finer streaks and colours see, 
Of the Creator's real poetrie, 
Than when we with attention look 
Upon the third day's volume of the book. 
If we could open and intend our eye, 
We all like Moses should espy 
E'en in a bush the radiant Deity, 

During the classical age of Queen Anne, a taste for rural 
affairs became common, and Pope and Addison by their writ- 
ings attempted to give a proper direction to the genius of their 
countrymen. Several inimitable papers in the Spectator are 
devoted to this subject. They indicate a very considerable atten- 
tion to ornaments in rural affairs among the vrealthy of that 
period. 

The glories of Marlborough's wars had not deadened the 
feelings of the people to the calm pursuits of agriciUture and 
gardening, and the palace of Blenheim indicates the taste of 
the nation in its manner of rewarding their triumphant hero. 

Since this period, British gardening has augmented with the 
wealth and resources of that nation, and it may confidently be 
pronounced to have arrived to a more elevated condition than at 
any prior period. The county of Norfolk, in England, is a per- 
tinent example of the effects of a judicious system of agriculture 
and horticulture, on the condition and wealth of a population. 
About seventy years ago, this county was nearly a sterile plot 
of ground, little favored by nature, and neglected by the hand 
of man. Now the admirable construction of her ploughs ; the 
judicious rotation of the crops superseding the wasteful system 
termed fallowing; her improvements in the dairy ; her excellent 
management of turnip crops ; the use of the drill-roller, and the 
application of steam power to the labors of manual husbandry, 
are all the boast of every tourist who has visited that interesting 
portion of England. To no one is Great Britain so largely in?- 
debted for these improvements, and for this pre-eminence, as to 
Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, a name endeared to Americans, 

This distinguished individual, gifted with princely wealth and 
possessions, has nobly devoted them to the amehoration of the 
f^oil ; with what success, this county testifies. By the efforts of 



10 

agricultural science, it has become the most productive county 
of England, and parts rival even the vales of Taunton and 
Eversham. 

From this county the Scottish husbandmen have borrowed 
many of their modes of cultivation, and a general spirit of im- 
provement is manifesting itself in most of the districts of Eng- 
land. Mr. Coke is famous for his hospitality to our country- 
men ; and the first commoner of that nation boasts of the vote 
which he opposed in Parliament, against the impolitic attempts 
of the ministry to infringe the liberties of the American Colo- 
nies. 

The southern portion of the British Isle abounds in gardens, 
villas, and parks, and the most convincing proofs that might be 
adduced of the zeal with which horticulture is cherished, are to 
be seen in the present state of their botanical and horticultural 
institutions. First among these are the Royal Gardens at Kew, 
which were founded in the time of George II. Numerous con- 
tributors have augmented thic repository of nature's produc- 
tions. Conspicuous among these patrons is the late Sir Joseph 
Banks. It may be pronounced the richest collection in Eng- 
land. 

Inferior to this in splendor, but perhaps more various in its 
materials, is the Botanic Garden of Liverpool, founded by Ros- 
coe, the once opulent merchant, the historian of the Medici, and 
the assiduous cultivator of Italian letters. 

Chelsea, Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin and Edinburgh boast of 
similar institutions. 

Under the auspices of the London Horticultural Society and 
its highly gifted President, Thomas Andrew Knight, British 
horticulture has advanced beyond the slow progress of time. 
It is glorious thus to see the splendid nobility and gentry of a 
great nation, directing in this channel their wealth and patron- 
age. By the exertions of this enterprising confederacy of men 
of genius and practical sagacity, the fruits of every clime and 
soil ; the rich pine apple ; the luxuriant orange ; the sAveet fla- 
vored peach ; the esculents of Eastern and Western India, are 
brought to the table of its opulent inJiabitants, and the fairest 
prqducts of Pomona ornamented with the graces of Flora, offer- 
ed at the board of hospitality. From this Society, in conjunc- 
tion with the Medico-Botanical Society of London, recently 



11 

organized under the Presidency of Dr. Maton, many improve- 
ments may be justly anticipated, both to the table of the Epi- 
cure, and to the resources of the tribe of Esculapius. 

In the late Sir Joseph Banks, horticulture ever found a mu- 
nificent patronage and vrell directed liberality. The chosen 
companion of the King, the acknowledged patron of Philoso- 
phy, was proud to bestow a portion of his wealth to improve 
the vegetable riches of his native soil. 

La Belle France, the country of chivalry and romance, was 
distinguished at an early period for her taste and cultivation in 
horticulture ; even so early as in the time of Charlemagne, who 
is probably the first to have contributed royal opulence to this 
purpose, in that nation. To this early date we refer the intro- 
duction into that country, of the best fruits ; the cultivation of 
orchards and vineyards. Francis the First adopted the garden- 
ing of Italy, as a part of the decorations of the Palace of Fon- 
tainbleau. In the time of Louis XIV. the philosopher Evelyn 
visited the garden of Versailles. He speaks with enthusiasm 
of its elegance and taste. 

In Le Notre, that munificent monarch found one whose style 
was as rich and gorgeous as his own, and the nation was de- 
lighted with the novelty and brilliancy of his designs : A diver- 
sity of taste has led to a diversity of decision as to the merits of 
these magnificent gardens. They are reported to have cost 
two hundred millions of francs.* The style of Le Notre is, 
however, still followed ; and of a similar character, though 
less costly, we find the establishments of Meudon and Tri- 
anon. 

Agricola, a Dutch writer, observes, that the sight of Versailles 
gave him a foretaste of Paradise ; and Bradley remarks, Ver- 
sailles is the sum of every thing that has been done in garden- 
ing. 

Of the innumerable establishments for the promotion of phy- 
sical science, which diversify, embellish, and enrich France, and 
more especially of those which are devoted to botanical and hor- 
ticultural knowledge, the present does not offer a suitable occa- 
sion to speak: but I may be permitted yet to notice one institu- 



See that valuable work, the Encyclopsedia of Gardening', by Loudon. 



lion, which by universal consent, is the theme of admiratioit 
and praise to every one aUve to the harmonies of nature. The 
garden of Plants founded by Louis XIII. is the noblest establish- 
ment of tJie kind in the world. Nothing even approaching to 
it has ever elsewhere been known. The spectator of this en- 
chanted spot, will here find the eye delighted, and tlie imagina- 
tion excited and gratified, while surveying the wonderful varie- 
ties and forms of beauty displayed by the vegetable products of 
every clime. Here he will feel himself almost transplanted as 
by enchantment, among the rich plains of India, and the heath 
-\ -^ ' covered wilds of Southern Africa ; here he will find the resplen- 
y * ■»*^^^ '- ^•^ent blossoms of the Canna, the ^crhzia , and the magnificent 
_^ .^-ty-JL' foliage of the Bignonia and the Dombyia. From nature's self 

s^x he may turn to the ingenuity and devices of man, the minister 

of nature. 

In inspecting the vegetable museum, he will here see Du 
Hamel's own specimens of his experiments on trees ; the ori- 
ginal herbarium of Tournefort and of Vaillant ; the collections of 
the Michaux, and evidences without number, of the labors and 
scientific classifications of Jussieu, a true philosopher, the 
founder of the Ordines Naturales, a work which has divided the 
judgment of the profoundest investigators of the vegetable king- 
dom into two great parties, of Linneans and Anti-Linneans. 

The experimental department of the garden will exhibit to 
him, an almost endless variety of display in the mode of train- 
ino- fruit trees, whether standards or espaliers. The resources 
and tenacity of vegetable life, will be unfolded to him by the 
most unexpected and complex forms of successful ingrafting. 
In the year 1816, I visited this magnificent temple of nature, 
and its vast treasures were rendered the more accessible lo 
my examination, by the kindness and civility of the venera- 
ble Desfontaiiies, the Professor of Botany to the Royal Garden, 
whose reputation is fixed in the list of nature's expositors, by 
the publication of his Flora Atlantica. The pride of nativity 
could not but swell in my veins, wlicn I was informed and saw 
with my own eyes, that pre-eminent among the magnificent 
and beautiful hardy exotics of the garden, shone our North 
American forest trees, the enduring Platanus and the fragrant 
Magnolia. 



But this institution is devoted not only to the heauties of na- 
ture, but consecrated as the Temple of Science. In the walks 
of this garden Buffon composed his immortal History of Crea- 
tion, portraying its character and depicting its beauties ; form- 
ing the noblest chant to the glory of our Maker, in the illus- 
tration of his works. Would that this sublime genius had not 
sullied it by impurity, and debased it by ingratitude. AVhat a 
striking example of the occasional obliquity of the human mind 
does he afford, who under the shade of the mightiest trees of 
the garden, the exotics of our own soil, could write that, in Ame- 
rica, nature had bc-littled her productions, 

Pei'haps it was characteristic of him who could behold with 
philosophic composure, his own marble statue, with an inscrip- 
tion that transgresses all bounds of modesty, and might by the 
most liberal, be deemed impious. 

" Majestati Naturse par ingenium I" 

" A genius equal to the majesty of nature!" 

In this devoted spot, the no less distinguished Cuvier, under 
the patronage of the late Emperor Napoleon, has given system 
and symmetry to the science of nature, and completed that 
structure of which Aristotle, under the direction of Alexander, 
laid the corner-stone. 

In Italy, the Medici are distinguished as the revivors of gar- 
dening, as well as of literature and the fine arts. From their 
example it received an impulse, which is visible in every part of 
that delightful country. The prodigality of nature has here 
been such, as to lessen the necessity of exertion on the part of 
these degenerate descendants of the Romans ; and we do not 
recognize among them, an elevated science in their horticulture 
and husbandry. 

The gardens of Lombardy boast the most luxuriant vegeta- 
tion in Europe. The ducal garden at Florence, and the villa 
of Rome, are objects of curiosity to every traveller. 

In this land of taste and song, of Dante and Rossini, where 
both the severer and the polite branches of knowledge have 
been most profitably cultivated by the gentler sex, one of the 
most elaborate works on the philosophy of nature, the vegetable 



14 

statistics of Dr. Hales has been improved aud illustrated by the 
accomplished lady Signora Maria Angela Ardinghelli. 

Our Dutch forefathers, in the land of their birth, were no less 
devoted to the elegant villa than to the pursuits of wealth, and 
few of their opulent merchants, but possessed their garden on 
the banks of some one of the numerous canals of that interest- 
ing country. Indeed, prior to the cultivation of horticulture in 
England, we find that Holland supplied London with her best 
esculent plants, and the various choice productions of the 
Kitchen Garden. 

The Botanic Garden at Leyden is an object of peculiar in- 
terest, from its early establishment and its venerable age ; and 
above all, from its connection with the name of the illustrious 
Boerhaave, the ornament of the medical profession and of 
human nature. Here, after the fatigue of public instruction and 
professional avocation, he recreated in the philosophy of nature. 
I have often seen the good old man, before the morning dawn, 
says his beloved disciple, the Baron Von Haller, perambulating 
about the garden in his wooden slippers, that he might more 
immediately superintend the culture of plants, and speculate on 
their flowers and fruits. 

In Holland, says Sir William Temple, " gardening has been 
the common favorite of public and private men ; a pleasure of 
the greatest, and a care of the meanest ; and indeed an employ- 
ment and a profession, for which no man there is too high or 
too low." We may add, that their labors are chiefly subser- 
vient to practical and economical purposes ; yet not so as to 
neglect the graces and elegancies of the art among the more 
opulent. 

Such then we find to be the results of associate labor and 
continuous exertions among those nations, who deem that the 
earth is to be cultivated to bring forth its treasures, and that in 
conformity to the highest and most imperative ordinance of hea- 
ven, the toils of the husbandman are the oftering which must be 
tendered at the altar of Pomona. 

Moreover, the history of our species demonstrate the close 
connection between the arts of husbandry, and the condition of 
our social state. " The mines of a nation," says Franklin, 
" are but shovel deep." The plough is the pioneer of civiliza- 
tion, and until nations have arrived at this stage of their career, 



15 

they are justly pronounced barbarous ; and wherever this great 
agricultural instrument has been introduced among an ingenious 
people, it has led to the noblest triumphs of our species, the 
arts and sciences, and all the glorious offspring of genius. 

Prima Ceres unco terrain dimovet aratro : 
Prima dedit leges. 

Much has been said of the eminent cultivation which our art 
has received among the Chinese, and it has been contended by 
distinguished authority, that agriculture among them has sur- 
passed the maximum of their civilization. This opinion has 
lately been advanced by our eminent countryman, Mr. Madi- 
son, but I apprehend that the accounts we have received are 
exaggerated : no science requiring the aid of genius could pos- 
sibly flourish among so medioci'e a people ; and despotism never 
yet admitted that degree of effort of the mind which agriculture 
demands of her disciples. 

A late accurate observer and eye-witness, Dr. Livingston, of 
Macao, in his paper on the state of Chinese horticulture and 
agriculture, furnishes us the best reasons for discrediting the 
representations we have generally had on this subject. Accord- 
ing to Dr. Livingston, it may well be doubted whether agricul- 
ture ought to be considered as holding among the Chinese the 
rank of a science, and Chinese horticulture may be said to be 
in a state precisely similar to that of their agriculture. Among 
other facts which warrant our assertion, the following may be 
enumerated. Potatoes and cabbage have been cultivated in the 
neighbourhood of Macao for upwards of half a century, and 
although highly profitable and productive, yet the method of 
growing them has not reached Canton, perhaps not even ex- 
tended five miles. Their plough is without a coulter, and 
nothing like regular tillage is ever attempted ; and for horticul- 
tural purposes, the Chinese may be said rather to nourish the 
plant than the soil. 

Let us cast a glance at Spanish agriculture and gardening. 
How inconsiderable have been the efforts of the Spanish nation 
in the promotion of rural economy, since the time of Herrara, 
whose work on Gardens, one of the few productions on this 
branch of domestic economy, appeared as early as in the begin- 



IG 

ning of the seventeenth century. The agriculture of Spain is 
an unprofitable theme. With a climate the most auspicious, 
and a soil naturally fertile, abounding in fruits the most numer- 
ous and grateful of any other European country, her inhabitants 
yield in the productions of the field, to nations less favored by 
nature, but more disposed to avail themselves of her advan- 
tages. The onion and the garlic are indeed in common use, 
but it would be as absurd to infer a sound state of horticulture 
from this circumstance, as that the art was prevalent among the 
Egyptians, because these builders of pyramids expended more 
than one thousand talents to provide their artificers with radishes, 
garlic and onions, during the execution of one of these stupend- 
ous fabrics. Culinary herbs and roots are scarcely attended to 
in Spain : and the means of providing that available resource 
in trial and danger, the planting of timber, is scarcely known. 
Goaded by priestcraft, and cursed by legitimacy, she is to be 
enumerated among those nations upon whom kind Providence 
has bestowed his most munificent gifts in vain. 

Turn we from ancient and venerable Europe, to the fresh 
and verdant fields and ever-during forests of America. What 
accession has been made to the treasures of the vegetable and 
mineral kingdoms, what resources of the forests by the disco- 
very of the new world, we can only in part conjecture. The 
extensive and well directed labors of Humboldt and Bonpland, 
give us some idea of the latent stores of nature ; and an infer- 
ence may be made, when we are told that the number of vegeta- 
ble species collected in Brazil, and now in the hands of Euro- 
pean botanists, is estimated at 14,000, of which number, not 
more than 500 were known at the commencement of the present 
century. We have good reasons to conclude that the North 
has not withheld her proportion. 

Our demonstrative proofs may be found by an examination 
of the Floras of Pursh, of Bigelow, of Torrey, of Muhlenburgh, 
of Barton, of Elliot and of Nuttull, with the species Plantarum 
of Linnseus. 

The colonial condition of this country prior to the revolution, 
was httle favorable to the promotion of agriculture, or the cul- 
tivation of the arts. Accustomed to look up to the mother coun- 
try as the seat of science, and the arbiter of her destiny as well 
as for protection, the provident arts were neglected, and indeed 



17 

England could scarcely be supposed desirous of encouraging 
pursuits which would render her colonies less dependent. Never- 
theless, we find that at even an early day, France, Spain, Hol- 
land, and England, sent out to this country men of science, 
to explore the vegetable and mineral riches of the Americas. 
The names of La Hontan, Herrara, Hennipen, Clavigero, Clay- 
ton, Catesby, the elder Michaux, Vanderdonk, Kalm, Wangen- 
heim, Pownall, Schoepf, Coxe, Bannister, will at once occur. 

The testimony of these able and enlightened writers, is most 
respectful to the variety and value of the productions of Ame- 
rica, and amply vindicates the equality of the Western to the 
Eastern hemisphere. It was the good fortune of many of these 
eminent travellers, to find in their journeyings, kindred spirits, 
with souls like their own, alive to the wild and novel scenes of 
nature ; who looked upon the objects which surrounded them, 
not merely as matters of curiosity, but of taste, of benefit to the 
arts culinary and remedial, of service in i-ural afiairs and domes- 
tic economy. Hence to investigation of properties, the practi- 
cability of foreign naturalization became a subject of great con- 
sideration. To facilitate researches and inquiries of this kind, 
Avho could more advantageously be consulted than Mitchell, 
Clayton, Jefferson, and Walter, of Virginia; Garden, of South 
Carolina; Boardsley, of Maryland ; Logan, Marshall, Bartram, 
Heckewelder, and Rush, of Pennsylvania ; Golden and Living- 
ston, of New- York; Humphreys, of Connecticut; Holyoke and 
Cutler, of Massachusetts, and Belknap, of New-Hampshire. 

In this reciprocity of intellectual pursuits, we find much to 
illustrate the history of the tobacco, the cotton plant, the sugar 
cane, the indigo, and many of our most efficient medicinal reme- 
dies derived from the vegetable kingdom. See further, the cata- 
logue of plants which may be useful in America, drawn up by 
Ellis, the agent for West Florida, but whose services are, per- 
haps, better known to us, by his discovery of the art of preserv- 
ing seeds during long voyages. These practical philosophers 
seem, without the lights of modern political economy, to have 
well understood, that the strength of a people mainly depended 
upon their agriculture, and that the introduction of but a single 
grain or plant, as the rice of Carolina, or the turnip of Norfolk 
will sometimes totally change the face and condition of a coun- 
try. There is a large amount of information oh these matters 

c 



18 

to be derived from the Linnean correspondence lately published 
by Sir James Edward Smith. The zeal of the colonies to im- 
prove their natural advantages, was equally rare and effective. 

Dr. Garden, of South Carolina, tells EUis in his letter, dated 
May, 1757 : " at this time we certainly send £150,000 sterling 
value of indigo to Britain, and we take the manufactures of Bri- 
tain for every farthing of it."* 

An arithmetical and geographical distribution has been made 
of vegetables : the total number of species of plants known, or 
believed to exist, amounts to about 44,000 ; 38,000 of which 
have been described according to Humboldt and Brown ; 7,000 
of these belong to Europe. In temperate America in both 
hemispheres, 4,000 ; in equinoctial America, 13,000 ; of these 
17,000, there are probably described about 3,500. What a field 
of inquiry does this present to our ingenious countrymen, and 
to the lover of philosophy every where 1 We need not marvel 
that Linnaeus was desii'ous of visiting America. 

Catesby, in 1767, observed that a small spot of land in Ame- 
rica, within less than half a ceutuiy, furnished England with a 
greater variety of trees, than had been procured from all other 
parts of the world, for more than a thousand years past. How 
far there is reason for America to boast of her forests, we may 
learn from Michaux. " It should be remarked," says the 
younger Michaux, " that the species of large trees are much 
more numerous in North America, than in Europe. In the 
United States there are more than one hundred and forty spe- 
cies that exceed thirty feet in height, all of which I have exa- 
mined and described : in France, there are but thirty that attain 
to this size, of which eighteen enter into the composition of the 
forest, and seven only are employed in building." 

A late English traveller, in his journey through the Western 
States, remarks on Kentucky; " the scenery is pecuharly fine, 
with attendant cultivation. Here the trees attain an altitude 
and a size unknown in Europe." In short, every additional 
information we derive from the researches and enterprise of 
enlio'htened adventurers, gives us additional proofs of the extra- 
ordinary natural riches of our vegetable world. Mr. David 



Linneean Correspoudence, vol. I. p. 403. 



10 

Douglass, a practical botanist, who but very recently re- 
turned from an exploratory tour to the West Coast of North 
America, has communicated to the Horticultural Society of 
London, riches hitherto unknown in the products of the vegeta- 
ble kingdom. Among them we find two new species of pine, 
of more gigantic dimensions than any hitherto described in 
Europe or America. One species (Pinus Douglasii) grows to 
the height of two hundred and thirty feet, and is upwards of fifty 
feet in circumference at its base. It is stated to have a rough 
corky bark, from one inch to twelve inches thick. The leaves 
resemble those of the spruce, and the cones are small. The 
timber is heavy and of good quality. It was found growing on 
the banks of the Columbia, where it forms extensive forests, 
extending from the shores of the Pacific to the Stony Moun- 
tains. The other species (Pinus Lambertiana) was discovered 
in Northern California, where it is dispersed over large tracts 
of country. It is a most majestic tree. One specimen, which 
in consequence of its having blown down, Mr. Douglass was 
enabled to measure, was two hundred and fifteen feet in length, 
fifty-seven feet nine inches in circumference at three feet from 
the root, and seventeen feet five inches at one hundred and thir- 
ty-four feet. It is thought to be the largest mass of timber ever 
measured by man ; and yet some of the growing specimens of 
the same pine were evidently of greater elevation. A singular 
property of this tree is, that when the timber is partly burned, 
the turpentine looses its peculiar flavour, and assumes a sweet- 
ish taste. It is used by the natives as a substitute for sugar.* 

A people so enlightened, scattered over a territory so widely 
extended, diversified by such great variety both in soil and cli- 
mate, would naturally turn their attention to the augmentation 
of the native resources of the country, to the products of the 
soil and their own better accommodation. To these circum- 
stances we may attribute the origin of our numerous agricultural 
societies. The earliest association devoted to this express ob- 
ject, was the Agricultural Society of Pennsylvania, founded in 
1785. This has proved the most successful institution of the 
kind in the United States, and has had great influence in 



Library of Useful Knowledge, toI. ii. 



20 

ameliorating the condition of husbandry in our sister common- 
wealth. 

The introduction of plaister of Paris, which has had a most 
important and decided effect on the agriculture of America, 
under the direction of Judge Peters, is owing to this society. 
Let those who would distinctly learn the extent of obligation 
by this innovation, read the Essay of this learned Judge and 
practical farmer. While I bear my feeble testimony to the 
value of the services of the Pennsylvania Society, and look into 
their printed records for the materials of sound georgical sci- 
ence from the experienced Cooper, Mease, Holcombe, Haines, 
Pickering, and othei's ; of Judge Peters, I may be permitted 
to take a passing notice. Arriving at adolescence during the 
troublesome period of the revolution, he embarked in it with 
characteristic zeal and intrepidity. On the termination of that 
momentous struggle, he commenced the study of the science of 
the law, and soon became so distinguished a member of the bar, 
that he was elevated at an early age to a seat on the bench of 
the Supreme Court. The intervals of a laborious profession, 
he devoted to the cultivation of that science, in honor of which 
we this day convene. To no individual is agriculture more 
indebted than to this distinguished man, and the volumes of the 
Agricultural Transactions of Pennsylvania, contain the evi- 
dences of his devotion and care. Long may his memory con- 
tinue to be honored among us, and may his example stimulate 
others to similar efforts in the cultivation of this noble science. 

The Agricultural Society of Berkshire is conspicuous among 
these establishments. Instituted by the public spirit and fore- 
sight of the venerable Elkanah Watson, it has become noted 
throughout our states, for the wisdom and success of its opera- 
tions. In the ancient and patriotic state of Virginia, the Albe- 
marle Agricultural Society boasts as its active president and 
most efficient member, the former chief magistrate of our na- 
tion, the illustrious Madison. 

Of the vital importance of Agriculture and Horticulture, the 
Legislature of the State of New- York has always been duly 
sensible. At an early period, the members of that honorable 
body formed themselves into a society for the promotion of 
those branches of physical knowledge ; and at least, this good 
has flowed from their zeal, that our state has been gradually 



31 

stimulated to a degree of exertion and patronage in favor of 
these pursuits, greater than that of any other member of the 
confederacy. 

All our Governors since the revolution, from the patriotic 
George Clinton to his enlightened relative, have in their com- 
munications to our state councils, recommended this great in- 
terest to their protection. " As agriculture is the source of our 
subsistence, (says the late De Witt Clinton, in his Inaugural 
Speech as Governor of New- York,) the basis of our strength, 
and the foundation of our prosperity, it is pleasing to observe 
the public attention awakened to its importance, and associa- 
tions springing up in several counties, to cherish its interests." 
Again he observes, " this important pursuit is the foundation of 
wealth, power and prosperity : it requires the energies of the 
mind, as well as the powers of the body : it demands the light 
of science to guide its progress, and the munificence of govern- 
ment to accelerate its movements ; to extend its usefulness, and 
to diffuse its blessings." 

Alive to these views, a Society for the promotion of Agricul- 
ture and the Useful Arts, was organized by our state authorities 
in 1791, and no one can read the memorials of their acts and 
proceedings, without feeling the obligation this state owes to 
the good sense and practical sagacity of the members of this 
early association, Rutherford, L'Hommedieu, Jones, De Witt, 
Kent, and the late Chancellor Livingston. 

At the earnest suggestion of the late Governor Clinton, an act 
was passed by the Legislature of New- York, in 1S19, for the 
institution of a Board of Agriculture, and the sum of $10,000 
appropriated annually for six years, to further its various objects 
in the different counties of the state. 

Of the peculiar merits of the Transactions of the Agricultural 
Board, let the learned and skilful in georgical science speak: 
But wherever agriculture is appreciated as an art, or understood 
as a science, the labors of Armstrong, Buel, Dewitt, Bradley, 
Brown, Van Rensselaer and Featherstonhaugh, will be recog- 
nized, and add to that spirit of emulation which is indispensa- 
ble to the cultivation of rural affairs. " If the county of Scho- 
harie alone," says E. Watson, " had received all this bounty, 
it would have fully justified the wisdom of our councils." 



2-2 

To render this hasty sketch of the progress of rural affairs 
less imperfect, it would become necessary to take some notice of 
the establishment of botanical and other horticultural institu- 
tions in this country ; of the gardens of Parmentier, Prince, 
and others ; but opportunity does not allow us at this time. 

In common with all lovers of nature, we must regret the de- 
struction of the Garden at Charleston, the earliest in these 
States, and formed by the Elder Michaux : The Botanical Gar- 
den at Kingsess was long the theme of praise, and is still the 
resort of philosophy. This establishment was first carried into 
efiect by the self-taught naturalist, John Bartram. Here in a 
delightful situation, he brought together a large colJection of 
American plants and exotics, and by extensive travelling through 
the country from Canada to Florida, added to their number. 
So successful a botanist did he become, that Linnseus in one of 
his letters, speaks of him as the greatest natural botanist in the 
world. 

He maintained an extensive correspondence with eminent 
men, both in his native country and abroad, and Gronovius and 
Ralm, Hans Sloane and Linnceus, were instructed by his 
discoveries. Subsequently the garden came under the superin- 
tendence of his son William, extensively known by his Travels, 
who seems to have inherited the unwearied zeal and vigorous 
capacity of his father, for the sublime studies of nature. In 
1801, the former distinguished President* of this Society, insti- 
tuted by individual effort, an extensive Botanic Garden in the 
vicinity of this city, which was purchased by the state in 1810. 
Flourishing under its founder, it perished under the neglect of 
the public. It is not for me to speak of the disgrace which the 
gtale sustains by its failure in this enterprise. 

The New- York Horticultural Society, though recently insti- 
tuted, has not been without its profitable results. The products 
of our gardens, and the richness of our markets, indicate its 
salutary effects; which, I trust, are the harbingers of still more 
valuable and important advantages. It must be gratifying to 
those who have so assiduously labored in tlic cause, that the 
services of this society have been placed in so favorable a light, 



Dr. David Ilosack. 



23 

bj ihe President* of a kindred institution in the western part of 
this state. Indeed, this day's exhibition has regaled our senses 
with richer gifts than have been presented to us on any former 
occasion. 

This city is most happily situated for the purposes to which 
this society is devoted. Open in its intercourse to every part 
of the globe, it receives in its capacious bosom, the tribute of 
everyclimate and soil; and, under proper regulations, this insti- 
tution may be the means of rendering the most ample returns. 
Moreover, by a proper understanding with our sister states, a 
profitable interchange may be established with every part of our 
country, and above all, the difterent counties of our state may 
be made to partake in all the rich variety of our natural and 
artificial culture. Already has one of our western counties imi- 
tated our example, and borne testimony to our success. May 
the example spread. — This Society will not withhold its coun- 
tenance, and whatever aid may lie within its power. 

It will not, perhaps, be deemed foreign to the objects of this 
discourse, to suggest to the proper authorities, the propriety of 
establishing in the vicinity of this city, or in whatever place may 
be deemed most appropriate, an institution for the promotion of 
Agriculture, in a mode somewhat analogous to that of the Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point. An experimental farm, with a 
school for instruction in the various branches of preliminary 
education and agriculture, the teachers paid by the state, the 
student at liberty either to make compensation by labor on the 
farm, or by pecuniary remuneration for the expenses of his liv- 
ing; to each county the privilege afforded of sending a pupil 
for a certain number of years, and in proportion to its repre- 
sentation in the house of Assembly, would probably be the best 
means of furnishing to each portion and section of the state, 
every improvement which either philosophy or experience 
might contribute to this science. How far the interference 
of this society in favor of such a project, might aid in its ac- 
complishment, or whether indeed the suggestion is worthy 
of their consideration, I leave to the determination of those 
who possess a more intimate and practical acquaintance with 



Myron Holley, Esq. 



21 

these affairs. " The art of agriculture, (says Sir John Sin- 
clair,) can never be brought to its highest degree of perfection, 
or established on rational and unerring principles, unless by 
means of experiments accurately tried, and properly persevered 
in. The ardent inquirer has too long been obliged to rely on 
vague opinions and assertions, which have- not been warranted 
by sufficient authority. It is full time, therefore, by the estab- 
lishment of experimental farms, under the sanction, and at the 
expense of government, or by enabling the Board of Agricul- 
ture to grant adequate premiums to deserving persons for new 
discoveries, to bring the art to as great perfection as possible, 
by ascertaining the principles on which it ought to be con- 
ducted." 

Whether the New- York Horticultural Society will be content 
in the present sphere of its usefulness, a usefulness admitted by 
the unanimous approbation of our citizens, and lauded by the 
soundest farmers of our country, depends, as all future opera- 
tions must do, upon the available means it may command, and 
the energy and cordial co-operation of its members. In a wider 
sphere, objects of no less consideration, and, perhaps, of greater 
value, might justly demand a portion of its care, and the em- 
ployment of its resources. 

Of the many subjects deserving particular inquiry, conspicu- 
ous among all others, would be a greater attention to trees, the 
ornament and defence of our nation : 

Decus et tutaraen. 

" With the tree," says Pliny, " Ave plough the ocean and the 
land, and construct our dwellings." 

Neither the federal government nor the several states, have 
reserved forests. The effect is already very sensibly felt in the 
large cities, where the complaint is every year becoming more 
serious, not only on account of the excessive dearness of fuel, 
but for the scarcity of timber. Even now inferior M'ood is fre- 
quently substituted for the white oak ; and the live oak, so highly 
esteemed in ship-building, Avill soon become extinct upon the 
lands of Georgia. 

Several admirable papers have been published on the best 
means of cultivating and preserving our fruit trees, by those of 



25 

our countrymeii who were most competent, from practical 
knowledge on the subject. The venerable Thacher has enrich- 
ed this department of horticultural science with a sound volume, 
entitled the Orchardist. Among American physicians, Dr. 
Thacher ranks ^high, not only by his labors in the profession, 
but by various efforts in the departments of natura> science. 
In his Military Journal of American Independence, his patriot- 
ism and his fidelity to truth are equally evident. But it is 
more pertinent to our present purpose to observe, that his Or- 
chardist may be consulted by American farmers with advan- 
tage, and that by his recent work on Bees, he has evinced a 
degree of observation, which adds to his reputation as an ad- 
mirer of nature. May I be permitted to add, that my own per- 
sonal acquaintance with this exemplary individual, corresponds 
with the opinion I had formed of his character, and that he 
unites to the utmost urbanity of demeanour, the most valuable 
qualifications in his profession. Mr. Coxe, of New-Jersey, in 
his Treatise on Fruit Trees, has displayed a research which 
gives his labors a value not possessed by those of Forsyth ; and 
several reprints in this country, of the Agricultural Chemistry of 
Sir Humphrey Davy, demonstrate that the philosophy of agricul- 
ture has become a study of deep interest to our American farmers. 
On the cultivation of the silk, a distinguished member of this 
society, Dr. Pascalis, has lately favored us with the first por- 
tion of a treatise of great excellence, on the cultivation of the 
Mulberry Tree. Of the redeeming powers which this nation 
possesses in the consequences which must ensue from this cul- 
ture, let the statesman and the political economist speak. Our 
foreign trade in silk costs tliis nation annually, fourteen millions 
of dollars. In the opinion of some of our most capable judges, 
the culture of silk might become a subject of great importance 
among us, and thus the fair daughters of our land be decorated 
only in native charms ; for American beauty needs not the aid of 
foreign ornament. Within the past week we have been inform- 
ed, that at a late meeting of the Agricultural Society of Ohio, 
beautiful specimens of silk, the growth and manufacture of that 
state, were exhibited.* 

* See further, the able Essays on American Silk, and the best means of 
rendering it a source of individual and national wealth, with Directions to 

D 



2G 

The cultivation of the vine is also here noticed, because the 
feasibility of the measure is most readily admitted, by those who 
know most on the subject. More than fifty years ago, a judi- 
cious practical observer, urged its practicability upon the atten- 
tion of this state, as one of peculiar importance, and entirely 
within their power. But without a longer enumeration, I will 
briefly add, that a philosophical inquiry might well be instituted 
into the expediency of reviving the cultivation of indigo, and 
the greater security to life and health, in deriving this article 
from the dry rather than from the wet leaf. 

In the culture of cotton and the sugar cane, long time as both 
these staples have occupied our attention, each challenges 
greater care and more correct principles. The invention of the 
cotton gin, for separating the seed from the cotton, and the ap- 
plication of improved machineiy to the manufacture of the raw 
material, have given to this article, its present value and import- 
ance : they are the great agents by which all the wonders of the 
cotton cultivation in the United States have been effected. In 
1789, a member of the House of Representatives of the United 
States, from South Carolina, stated, that the people of the 
Southern States intended to cultivate cotton ; and added, if good 
seed could be procured, he hoped they might succeed. In 1817, 
the cotton exported amounted to 86,649,328 pounds. If Pro- 
fessor Olmsted's late experiments on cotton seed shall be 
proved to be correct, we have still further inducements held out 
to us. We have good reason to believe that South Carolina 
alone may furnish three millions of bushels of cotton seed, which 
will command nearly a million of dollars for the manufacture 
of oil, when the principle of its manipulation shall be fully 
established. The nature, composition, and analysis of our soils, 
offers much for the talents of the mos^ skilful. Dr. Macneven 
has already in part performed this service : it would be well for 
agriculture, that others would imitate his example, and rival 
his efforts. 



Farmers for raising Silk Worms. By John D'Homerque, Silk Manufac- 
turer, and Peter Stephen Duponceau, Svo. published since the delivery of 
this Discourse. See also the excellent papers of Dr. Pascalis, which have 
lately appeared, and the elaborate Document of Dr. Mease. 



27 

In an augmented sphere of action, this society would be ob- 
ligated to throw light on those intricate subjects, the diseases of 
vegetable life and of domestic animals. Here is a vast and 
comparatively unexplored field, which if properly investigated, 
would give to the husbandman, a triumph for his toils, which 
he despairs of ever possessing in the present condition of our 
knowledge. The agriculturist who stocks his farm with foreign 
breeds, or cultivates our domestic animals with proper solicitude, 
would derive results from studies connected with the economy 
of animals and their disorders, and the comparative illustrations 
adduced from vegetable life, that could not fail to secure the 
most desirable results. We have reason to suppose that these 
pursuits were cherished with special regard in the early state of 
husbandry and rural economy. 

The contested points concerning seedlings and ingraftings, 
demand our severest scrutiny. Mr. Knight's inferences, that 
those fruit trees which have for more than a century been propa- 
gated by ingrafting, and not from seeds, are liable to canker, 
and are not worth cultivation, have recently been ascertained 
to be too well founded. The golden pippin is fast wearing out, 
and the winter pears of England, have nearly disappeared. 
But fortunately, they have lately procured from our country, by 
means of our late President,* the seckle Pear, already of ex- 
tensive growth among them, a fruit which they pronounce of 
excellent flavor. I saw that the Plane trees (American plata- 
nus occidentalis) in the gardens of Chelsea, Oxford and Cam- 
bridge, were all of them simultaneously in a state of decay, 
though they had flourished in these respective places for a long 
series of years. The conservators of those gardens, with all 
their philosophy, were unable to explain the cause. Do the 
products of grafting die with the parent stock? Miller long 
ago observed, that herbaceous plants propagated by cuttings, 
became sterile in a few years. Are there disorders of an epide- 
mical and hereditary nature among trees and vegetables'? What 
is the cause of the calamity which has lately befallen the vene- 
rable elm both in this country and in Europe 1 Flax, so much 
neglected at present, might, with proper attention, become one 



• Dr. Parid Hpsack. 



2S 

of the most productive and profitable occupations of husbandry. 
It is one of the labyrinths of our policy, to account for the pre- 
sent neglect on this subject. 

That our agriculturalists have the means, under improved and 
more extensive regulations, to secure to themselves and to their 
descendants, the blessings now in anticipation by such investi- 
gations, is seen in the discoveries and suggestions they have 
already made. We need most the precepts of those who prac- 
tice on our own soil ; and after having perused the works of 
Dickson, and Marshall, and Hunter, and Abercrombie, we turn 
with a more solid, because a more practical satisfaction, to the 
pages of our own writers ; the New-England Farmer of Deane, 
the American Gardener of Fessenden, the Kitchen Garden of 
Wilson, and the Essays of Arator, by Taylor, of Virginia. In 
addition, the New-England Farmer, by Fessenden ; the New- 
York Farmer, under the patronage of this society ; the Ameri- 
can Farmer, of Skinner, and other periodical journals, by their 
mutual co-operation and rivaliy, contribute to illustrate and ex- 
tend the principles and improvements of American horticulture. 

I am proud that my native state has not been behind hand in 
furnishing her quota of distinguished writers and patrons of 
Agriculture. 

The late Chancellor Livingston will ever be cherished by 
New- York, as one of her most gifted sons and accomplished 
agriculturists. After devoting his youth and manhood to the 
defence of his country in the hour of peril, and his maturer 
years to rear her civil institutions, asking permission to retire 
from political tumult and contention, he taught our hardy far- 
mers how to till the soil with most profit, and what herds might 
most advantageously graze upon her lawns. Of Dr. ]\Iitchill, 
of this city, it would be unjust to omit his name in the list of 
those who, by their talents and knowledge, have contributed to 
encourage a taste among us for the beauties of nature. His 
versatile talents, his various knowledge, his urbanity and cour- 
tesy, are known to all of you ; but I cannot omit the opportu- 
nity to say, that amidst the bustle and business of a commercial 
metropolis, surrounded by the zealous and exclusive devotees 
of wealth, he has nobly pursued the path of science, gene- 
rously pointed out the way to our youth, and cheered them in 
their course. If there be among us any taste for Natural His- 



29 

tory, to him are we in a great degree indebted for it ; and that 
excellent institution, the Lyceum of Natural History of New- 
York, attests his activity and zeal, and contains the recorded 
evidences of his science. 

There still resides among us another distinguished citizen,* 
whose name reminds us of all that is magnificent in patronage, 
and generous in hospitality; and whose exertions in the interests 
of agriculture, have far exceeded all that has been allotted to 
any other individual of our state. Omitting as irrelevant to 
our purpose, his labors in the councils of the nation, I shall 
only at present point out to you, counties explored, and institu- 
tions for agriculture founded, by his wealth, and reared by his 
care. Long may this illustrious citizen live to exhibit to our 
people, a benignant example of the civic virtues of opulence 
devoted to the benefit of the indigent, and of patronage bestow- 
ed on the arts of agriculture. 

In the absence of all aid from the state, no means can be de- 
vised more appropriate to those great undertakings, than the 
union of those devoted to their accomplishment. Most happy 
have been the results of the labors of those who have united in 
efforts requiring co-operation ; stimulated by mutual zeal, and 
rewarded by mutual success. 

Is it an unwarrantable extravagance, to anticipate that Ame- 
rica will become the chosen residence of Agriculture, and the 
rites of Flora. Although in the infancy of our condition, com- 
merce, and more recently, manufactures, have gained a supre- 
macy ; and the former, as contributory most to its support, may 
also expect to attain most of its protection ; the claims of agri- 
culture will ultimately prevail in a country of such boundless ex- 
tent, and which no less boasts independence on the rest of the 
world by the multiplicity of its resources, than it sets defiance to 
their power, by the vigor and valor of its population. We trust 
it never can be said, that a people who derived their origin from 
the most enlightened of modern nations, in an age fertile be- 
yond all former example in genius and improvement, who were 
impelled by elevated and generous incentives in their adven- 
ture, and when checked in their enterprise, turned their arms 



Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer. 



30 

with dauntless boldness and final success, upon their unnatural 
parents ; who inhabit a country which contains mthiu itself, the 
productions of every soil and climate, became recreant to its 
own honor and greatness, and false to its own high destiny. 
The omens are auspicious : and when in the course of time, and 
the progress of society, her population shall have become aug- 
mented, and her resources developed ; when the grandeur and 
sublimity of her native scenery, and the magnificence of her 
rivers shall have been appropriated and cultivated, and the 
fairy hand of civilization have enchanted and enlivened her 
woods and forests, admiring nations will yield that tribute to 
her moral greatness, which they had before rendered to the 
arm of her physical power. 

The present age can alone be supposed to have been fully 
aware of the advantages of science, or to have improved it with 
the proper aids of experiment and art. In Great Britain have 
those facilities combined, which were necessary to the deve- 
lopement of its principles. In having recourse to her science, 
we do but acknowledge her greater maturity in those arts, in 
which it will be our pride to join hereafter in mutual emulation. 
The obligation will be reciprocal, and she is already indebted 
to us for a gift more precious than the mines of Potosi. 

Of the moral purity and dignity inherent in the cultivation 
of the earth, I need not here insist at length. It is too obvious 
t-o be misanderstooJ, and is illustrated in the life and writings 
of many of the most distinguished names in our own, as well 
as in foreign nations. I will merely allude to the fact, that a 
garden was the seat of man in his state of innocence, and that 
it was in a garden that Plato and Aristotle instructed their dis- 
ciples in sublime lessons of wisdom, inferior only to the truths 
which revelation has brought to light. And when majestic 
Rome subjugated and civilized the barbarous nations around 
her, by the vigor of her arms and the triumphs of her policy, 
the commanders of her victorious legions were chosen from tlie 
cultivators of her fields. 

In our own nation, the father of his country left reluctantly 
the farm for the field of battle, and having overcome the ene- 
mies of freedom, returned to the labors of agriculture. And 
when a second time his services were demanded, having filled 
the measure of his own and his country's glory, he again re- 



31 

sumed those peaceful pursuits which it was his delight to cher- 
ish, and which nothing but his country's call could have in- 
duced him to forego. Thence he was summoned by his 
Maker to a higher scene ; and although death on the field of 
battle is more consonant to human pride, to surrender our life 
at his bidding, is more agreeable to the wish of our Maker. 
Thus it was ordered by his Creator, that man in a state of in- 
nocence, should exercise the arts of agriculture for his enjoy- 
ment, and in a state of trial, its labor for his security. The 
foundations of our republic were cemented in blood ; but let us 
trust that its supremacy will be reared by the innocent arts of 
peace. 













r.cr>- 















«rs •■•c:^ 



■^^ $;^: ^ 






Jccct C cr cr 






3-.- <: c c-^. 

-^^ cc: c:o «■ ^> 'i . •<! 



C^ 









JCS c^% ...9 



«: o <.^k: 









^ «: <r 5 --^ *^« 

:c- c ^ :^ ^rc- 

'^ ,f„ ^'g,- >t^ iT'Cc ^4r <fi 
^&-%\V:^cvc*C_ <c <^ 



«r.<- 



iK§- 









r or 



<1C 



fC XLC. 






C5::: <%^. 



c C.^<^-fXft < ^^ <^<- >. .. 



^ C.<1^^^- tc < ^ 






:. ^\'/^^'^^<^^' 



r. *- *^- *-- "^ '^'^ '''■<i cscr . 






C Cf rc C f'C C 

«:.« <• c cc K^^c:' err. ,■■ ^ 

ccc<? <: <--.<- ,cc<. i-c , , 
ccrc<-c ci'v^; rccT cr' . - 

r ■<c;?cct:c ^c ;c^<r 



cc ^, 

ex.. CX] < 






C. ccceL 






«c: tire c: , 
«: rc<r <r .cV 



'• c<-.cc<sc:<: ■ c 









■-5^ Cc' Ce- 
re cc 






CC c 

c<: < 

cc;>c 

cc ex 

CCccC 



_c:c cc 

<' •OC' cc 

^'^ CjCc c c 



<cc'x<: 

c;c clc 



^^<^< «C"c^<« 
"5^ ^ ' <<:x:: <: 






cc <c?;^C< 

T <z«rx 



«t::c 
<mzc 

^itlc 



;^" 5^ ^'^ ^ Cc c:<r 



c<rr 


^- 


cc ( 


^t^- 


cc^. 


<n 


■Crrt-< 


_ ^ 


r <!c.. 


•« 


,. ".crc 


^ 


.j-Co.< 


^ 




«l 


; v-"cr-, 











w^^ 



<^c 4Cfic c:c. 



< cr~<:; 



c- r:cc^ <:c -^c 
s c<_ cr-T cc ^rc 
-- c <r c?? cc 



c^TC-Vc" 



^•<i: C^rir 



. cccrc' 



-cc'C^<r?f; c 
c cc CcC. Cc 

jvccnc: cc 

c ^C C^ -XV 



''- <rct- . 
<crg' c 



'CCC C <s 
cc etc: <:<i 

L <Q. C c c^ <CCC 
ad cc C c c «0 

cr cr C c c -^^ 
C CC Cc C 
^ CC cc c 

2' 'Cr: cc c- 

1 •<^._JC v^ C 
r 'CSl cc C 



:^c c:^c cc <r c^n 
^'cc c:ici.'<^c. <r c«r- ' 
:.ccc:cc:-cc c r.«xL. 
:<cc3c:_ cc. <t (<c 
L c c c; cc:' ' c c cr^ ■ > <x:" 
L<cd^<c c:c_c--^ 

=.- "^C '«C1C c <cc 
_CC_ « 

^. cc^ ( <: c c ^cc: 

^'C ed CC t. 

_::■ c «c- <c ■ .: 
iCCl' cc c 

<i 'Cd-rcc:^ . cc; ■ -< 

CI ^C^^cccT: cc:" V cd c c 'CC 

"oCCcrcd _ cc . ^<C^cc^ cc 
-i^cd.cs^: ,<:;^v cc 



'C5C<r}r-"^*^ 



IS-d^^CC 
cc <:icc C C 



cc 
- <c;c§ 

= '^ «: c«r 



=^ \ ^c.<r ^cc-- 
:;' CC' . 

^'-^^^ 
V*^^Ccc ' 
c cc «3r: cr , 

ccc:^rc , 
c cc cr cc - 

c«:<cr cc".^ 

c<cc:ccr^c c 
c ^x«cr-"^'x^^ 

C?Cj;«r< c 

C cc«:'a«-r rc^ 
"C ccflc ' 

<:<iz:«*Cl<^" c" 
:,. S^«^,«:3. c 

■ J^JS'^^c^* 

<:_;'c<cK:r ., 

-.^<C'« 

r~_<CCC 
^... «CC.^ 



«sr': c 






UBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDDETbEflEDS 



